As a technology services provider, we find ourselves repeatedly answering the same question for our customers:  Which Cloud is Right for Me?

Deciding whether or not to move your business into the cloud can be a complex decision – mainly because of all the options available on the market today.  Type the word Cloud in any search engine and you will find a million different possible choices. Trying to sift through all of the options for many business owners can be a difficult task on a good day.  Here are a few pointers that I found to be helpful when taking that first foray out into the wonderful world of Cloud technology.

First, evaluate your current business environment and decide what actually needs to be in the cloud. Knowing what information you want to be in the Cloud is a critical step in determining the type of technology you will need. Listed below are a few examples of what you may want to put into the Cloud:

• Regular backups of your critical data.
• Web access/hosting of software applications you may use such as ACT!, Outlook, QuickBooks etc.
• Files you want to be able to share with other users in your organization or trusted business partner.

Once you have decided what information you want in the Cloud, the next step is to decide what type of Cloud works best for you. Common types of Cloud (i.e. hosted solutions) include:

• Hosted data services – This form of hosting is great for off-site backups or hosting of a particular software application (like ACT!, Outlook or QuickBooks).  A hosted data service enables you to pick and choose what areas of your business need to be in the cloud.
• Hosted servers – This is a great option to consider if you looking to share files, share multiple applications or possibly put your entire company’s data and computing power in the cloud.  Due to the multitude of options in this area, our term “hosted servers”  is a generic term and for the purposes of this article, serves as a guide rather than an exact type of service.

A third area to consider relates to some of the logistics of Cloud computing:

• Who within your company will need access to what’s in the Cloud?
• What additional hardware or software will you need to make your data easily accessible once it’s in the Cloud?
• How much space will you need to have hosted? This is particularly important when addressing the need for an online backup solution or the renting of server space.

By carefully considering the questions listed above, you have now armed yourself with enough information to start narrowing your focus for the type of Cloud that will best work for your business.

At least once a week, we receive a call from one of our ACT! customers saying that their calendar – which use to load in 2 seconds or less, is now taking 2 minutes to load.  Depending on the age of the database involved and how heavily the calendar is currently being used, we often find that there is an easy fix to this frustrating problem.

Here are 4 quick tips to help keep your calendar and ultimately you, working at optimum speed.

1. When using recurring activities, be sure to put an end date for when you want the activity to stop recurring. Recurring activities without an end date means that ACT! is working extra hard to load all the instances of that appointment for as far out as ACT! calendar can see.
2. Make sure you are clearing activities as you do them.
3. Purge cleared activities once you no longer need to see them on the calendar. I had one customer who had 10 years of activities still loading on their calendar. ACT! has a built-in utility that helps remove all cleared activities after a certain point.
4. Set your calendar filters for what you actually want to see on your calendar. If you do not need to set to do items on your calendar, set the filter to ignore them. This will help the calendar load faster as well as cut back on the clutter.

Following these few quick tips can help keep your calendar moving right along.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen an increasing number of customer calls and problems stemming from trying to save ACT! templates on the network. The error message indicates that the template is in use.  This error occurs whether you are trying to create a new template, save changes to an existing template or saving an existing template with a new name. Unfortunately, the error message is misleading in the fact that rarely, if ever, is the document in use by someone else.

In doing research, we found this issue is actually a common problem with saving Microsoft Word documents to a network.  The error occurs when trying to save a file to a server using uniform naming convention (UNC) as opposed to using a mapped network drive. In layman’s terms, when saving the file with a format similar to \\actserver\act -database files\templates\template.doc, the UNC format is being used. When saving a file using a mapped network drive, the location may look something like this M:\act-database files\templates\template.doc where the M drive replaces the \\actserver.  The frustrating part of the error is that it does not occur all the time and can result in the document throwing the error not to be saved. 

The best way to prevent the error from is to launch the ACT! template folder through a mapped drive as opposed to using ACT!’s default opening method which is UNC. One simply way to do this is to create a shortcut on the computer desktop to where the ACT! templates folder exists out on the network. The key is to make sure that the shortcut is using a mapped network drive as opposed to using the UNC location. Whenever opening or savings these templates, always browse out to the desktop shortcut as opposed to using the default location ACT! provides. This will ensure that the mapped drive is used and avoid the untimely “template is in use” error message. 

Want some help doing this?   If so, please email me at tmm@stewarttechnologies.com and I’d be happy to provide you with screen shots to follow the steps listed above.  

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Every year around this time I find myself answering the same question for my clients:  

Should I upgrade ACT!??

Over the last five or six years, Sage Software has followed the same trend in regards to ACT! and upgrades.  In the early summer, Sage Software begins presales for the latest and greatest version of ACT!.  As part of the presales process, Sage Software discounts ACT! making it an attractive investment for people who need to upgrade. At the same time, Sage Software also announces that come late fall they will no longer support the version of ACT! that was released three years prior.

For companies running their business on ACT!, deciding whether or not to upgrade can be a stressful decision to make.  If  you have been tasked with deciding whether or not to upgrade ACT!, there are a few questions that you should be asking:

1. Is the version of ACT! I am using  supported by Sage Software and/or by the ACT! Certified Consultant I work with?
2. If my version is no longer supported, what does that mean for my business? What are the possible implications if ACT! were to suddenly stop working tomorrow? What would the cost of that downtime be to my business?
3. Can I still purchase additional licenses for the version I am on? Depending on the version of ACT!, it may be supported but Sage Software may no longer sell the licenses for it.  If the software is no longer available, do I have enough licenses to cover any growth that could occur in the next 12 to 18 months?
4. Am I planning to upgrade my hardware or other software in the next 12 to 18 months? If so, will my version of ACT! run on it?  Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Office 2010 are all prevalent out on the market and come installed on most new machines.  However, if ACT! does not work on it, what does that mean for me?
5. Is my existing hardware capable of running the new version of ACT!? This is a common pitfall for the people who love to upgrade every year and can end up being a budget gotcha when factoring in the cost of the new hardware that may be required to run the latest version of ACT!.
6. Will the new features included in ACT! make my business run better/more efficiently?  What areas of ACT! need to be improved for my business to run better? Will the new version address those  issues?

In working through the answers to the questions above, you will discover the answer to whether or not upgrading ACT! makes sense for your business. 

 Still unsure about what to do?  Reach out to your ACT! Certified Consultant and seek their advice.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen an increasing number of customer calls and problems stemming from trying to save ACT! templates on the network. The error message indicates that the template is in use.  This error occurs whether you are trying to create a new template, save changes to an existing template or saving an existing template with a new name. Unfortunately, the error message is misleading in the fact that rarely, if ever, is the document in use by someone else.

In doing research, we found this issue is actually a common problem with saving Microsoft Word documents to a network.  The error occurs when trying to save a file to a server using uniform naming convention (UNC) as opposed to using a mapped network drive. In layman’s terms, when saving the file with a format similar to \\actserver\act -database files\templates\template.doc, the UNC format is being used. When saving a file using a mapped network drive, the location may look something like this M:\act-database files\templates\template.doc where the M drive replaces the \\actserver.  The frustrating part of the error is that it does not occur all the time and can result in the document throwing the error not to be saved. 

The best way to prevent the error from is to launch the ACT! template folder through a mapped drive as opposed to using ACT!’s default opening method which is UNC. One simply way to do this is to create a shortcut on the computer desktop to where the ACT! templates folder exists out on the network. The key is to make sure that the shortcut is using a mapped network drive as opposed to using the UNC location. Whenever opening or savings these templates, always browse out to the desktop shortcut as opposed to using the default location ACT! provides. This will ensure that the mapped drive is used and avoid the untimely “template is in use” error message. 

Want some help doing this?   If so, please email me at tmm@stewarttechnologies.com and I’d be happy to provide you with screen shots to follow the steps listed above.  

Problem: More often than not, business owners, sales managers and marketing directors do not want their ACT! database users to have the ability to remove contacts from the database.

Solution: For a locked down database approach, here are three simple steps that can help prevent users from removing contacts from a database without management approval.

1. Decide which users should not have the capability to delete to contacts. Make those users either be a standard or restricted level user in the database. In the case of the standard level user, be sure to remove the delete records permissions otherwise users can delete records they entered into the ACT! database.
2. Designate users who need the ability to delete contacts from the database. Those users should be granted either managerial or administrator access to the database.
3. Since the standard and restricted level users do not have the ability to delete contacts, there needs to be a way for them to notify management when a contact needs to be removed. One approach is to create a group in ACT! called Delete Me. As users come across contacts that need to be removed from the system, they can make the contact a member of the Delete Me group. This allows management to review the contacts  designated for deletion prior to removing them from the system. A second approach is to create a yes/no field called To Be Deleted. A user can then check the field to designate that the contact needs to be removed from the system. Management can then perform a lookup on this field to determine if the contacts should deleted.

Benefits of this solution:  Management can now review the contacts to be deleted in the database to determine whether or not those contacts should be deleted. This ensures that valuable information for a contact, like their notes and history, is not lost.

Draw backs to this solution: Depending on a user’s job description, they may require a security level of manager or administrator in ACT!. As a member of this security role, they will automatically have the rights to delete contacts and those rights cannot be rescinded. Careful consideration needs to be made when modifying user’s security access to ensure that they are given enough access to perform their job. Also, there is now additional time required by management to review the contacts marked for deletion.  Although this can create additional work for management, there is nothing more damaging to a business than having a vital contact deleted from the database. Especially if the deletion is not discovered until months after the fact.

Challenge: As a software consulting  and IT firm, we are required to manage a myriad of information on our clients. Information that we need to manage at an application level includes:

1. Version of application(s) they currently have installed as well as what service packs or hot fixes they have loaded for that application.
2. Account number with the software manufacturer, in this case either Sage or Intuit.
3. Add-ons or custom programming the client currently has installed for that application.
4. Whether or not the client has corporate support or software renewals through the software vendor and when their expiration dates are.
5. For accounting software clients, tracking whether or not they do their payroll in house.
6. In addition to maintaining this information on behalf of the client, we also use this information to determine client elgibility for upgrades, service updates, hot fixes and also to notify clients when their support or software upgrade plans are coming up for renewal.

Options Explored:  Track information in spreadsheets either on a product line level or at a client level, build a custom access database to manage all the pieces of information that we needed to know or customize ACT! to track all of the information.

Solution: When ACT! introduced the company feature with ACT! 2005, we customized the company layout to track all of the client information that we needed. Our process was simple: we created one tab for each product line that we support. For each product line, we created custom fields that were specific to that client application. For example, our accounting software tabs includes checkboxes for Payroll and Credit Card Processing – items that are unique to the accounting software lines. For the CRM tabs, we created a large memo box to track all of our client serial numbers and added fields for clients whose database maintenance we perform.

In addition to adding customized tabs to the Company layout, we also created checkboxes that stretch along the top half of the screen: one box was created for each product line supported. The idea was that anyone in our office can see the company record and know what product we support  for that cleint based on the boxes that were checked.

To ensure this data was managed properly, we did develop a few rules as to when the company record was to be created and who was responsible for maintaining the information at the company level. Our workflow is as follows:

1. When a prospect becomes a customer, their information is entered into our accounting system and at the same time a company record is created.
2. At that point, the company record is filled out with all of the information we’ve accumulated on the client as part of our sales process.
3. Anytime a technician does work for the client, either the technician or managing partner goes in to update the company record with any changes (like service packs installed or upgrades done).
4. We also customized the company record to track how the client found out about us. At the end of each year, we run a source of referrals report in ACT! by company that tells us exactly where our business is coming from.  This allows us to determine where our marketing dollars should be spent in the upcoming year.

Over the years, the company record in ACT! has been a constant work in progress for us. We’re always making changes to the information we are collecting to ensure we are managing our clients more efficiently. It is a tool that I have come to rely upon heavily in regards to the day in and day out management of our clients.

I often have  clients ask me when they should be deleting contacts from the database.  Below are some of the common reasons I hear why people delete contacts from databases and my thoughts for why that contact should not be deleted:

• The contact was a bad customer. They never paid their bills on time or constantly argued any charges on their account.

Reason to keep the contact: No one likes a deadbeat customer. However, deleting the contact from the database means that future employees will have no knowledge of what type of customer this is. If the client calls back in the future, as all deadbeat customers tend to do, the person answering the phone will have no way of knowing that this is a bad customer and a waste of time to your organization. Keep the contact  in the database but be sure to document  this customer’s history. One easy way to notate this customer’s status is to modify the ID/Status dropdown to include a Former Client value. Employees should be trained that any contact with Former Client in the ID/Status drop down should be discussed with management prior to pursuing further.

• Contact no longer works at the organization.

Reason to keep the contact – Review your notes, history and opportunities for that customer. Determine if the information is tied to the contact or if it’s tied to the company that the contact worked for. If the information is tied to the contact, then simply update the contact’s record to reflect where they work now.  If all of the information under the record is related to the company, then update the record to reflect who the new point person is. If you aren’t sure who the replacement person is going to be,  update the database to reflect that fact and then schedule a reminder to follow-up regularly with the company until they have hired the replacement person.

• We have a lot of contacts in our database. We’re worried that the database can’t handle more than a few thousand contacts.

Reason to keep the contact: Depending on the version of ACT! that you are currently running, the newer versions of ACT! are robust enough to handle over 100,000 contacts. The limit of how much data the database can hold is not just limited to the contacts but also what type of data you are storing for those contacts i.e. notes, history and opportunities. By deleting contacts in the database, you could be limiting your marketing capabilities. Contacts can often lay dormant for years before deciding to make a purchase. Often one marketing piece appearing at just the right time is enough to rekindle that relationship. Deleting contacts from the database can limit your marketing outreach.

I hoped I’ve helped debunk a few common myths in regards to reasons why contacts should not be removed from the database.